Teams on the NCAA Tournament bubble will be watching the Big Ten and Southeastern conference tournaments Sunday ... and they won't be rooting for the underdog.
Illinois, the No. 10 seed, will be trying to play its way into the NCAA Tournament when it faces No. 1 seed Wisconsin in the Big Ten final. If the Illini win, one of the at-large teams will lose its spot in the bracket.
The wackiest story will take place in Atlanta at the Southeastern Conference tournament.
Georgia won two games Saturday _ the Bulldogs beat Kentucky, 60-56, in overtime and then upset Mississippi State, 64-60, Saturday night. The two victories puts Georgia (15-16 overall) in the SEC championship game against Arkansas. The Razorbacks stunned Tennessee, 92-91.
If Georgia wins, another at-large hopeful will wind up in the NIT.
Georgia was forced to play two games in about 10 hours because of a tornado that ripped through downtown Atlanta Saturday night. The storm damage to the Georgia Dome forced the SEC to postpone Friday night's Georgia-Kentucky game and move Saturday's games to Alexander Memorial Coliseum on the Georgia Tech campus.
_ Wendell Barnhouse
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